Sliding door arrangement



March 20, 1951 J. N. DOKKEN ET AL SLIDING DOOR ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec.29, 1947 J. JSZJD 012k 612/ CflJizccZ 61 5 12/ Patented Mar. 20, 1951SLIDING DOOR ARRANGEMENT Jiirgen Nilsen Dokken, Amund Ragnvald Wigeland,and Carl Albert Andersen, Oslo, Norway Application December 29, 1947,Serial No. 794,354 In Norway September 6, 1946 Section 1, Public Law690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires September 6, 1966 Claims.

The present invention relates to a sliding door arrangement and has foran object to avoid the cumbersome mounting of the sliding door fittingand further affords the advantage that in closed position the door islowered so that it fits closely to the floor. 1

The invention primarily consists in that the supporting device isconstructed of one, two or more wheels, from which a certain segment hasbeen removed, that the radial extension of the segment corresponds tothe desired lowering of the .door in closed position and that thesewheels are so dimensioned relative to the door-way that they do notperform a full revolution, i. e. that the periphery of the wheel islonger than the width of the door-way.

Further features of the invention will appear from the followingdescription in connection with the drawings, which illustrate preferredembodiments.

Figure 1 illustrates in full lines the lower part of a door equippedwith a device according to one embodiment of the invention in closedposition and with the door panel on the front side removed so'as to showthe supporting device, and illustrates in dotted lines the door andsupporting device in open position.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AB in Figure 1 at alarger scale.

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure l of a second embodiment.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along th line C-D in Figure 3 at alarger scale.

Figure 5 illustrates, at the same scale as Figure 4, a detail of theembodiment of Figs. 3 and l, viewed from the same side as Figure 3 andpartly in section.

In the lower part of the door l in the embodiment shown in the Figures 1and 2, room is left for inserting a fitting 2 and 3. supporting deviceis mounted, consisting of one or more supporting bodies, for instancetwo, as shown. These supporting bodies are constructed in the form ofwheels from which a segment has been removed. On one side of a line 4 atright angles to the chord 5 formed by the removal of the segment as muchmaterial as possible is cut out of the supporting wheel at 6, so as toobtain the greatest possible difference in the weight of the two halvesof the supporting wheel. Further the wheel in its central portion isformed in the usual manner with a boss l receiving the shaft whichextends therethrough.

The fitting 2, 3 is provided with outwardly pro-.

jecting flanges 9 engaging corresponding grooves in the door.

The structure is formed so that the fitting with the supporting devicemay be pushed into position in the door. The front edge of the doorconsists of a detachable ledge t, which at the In this fitting a (Cl.Iii-99) 2 same time keeps the fitting in position. By detaching theledge, the fitting may be made accessibl and pulled out for inspectionand oiling.

When the door and supporting device have been placed in position, thedoor is opened half-way and lifted off the floor, whereby the supportingwheels will adopt a predetermined position due to the surplus weight ofone-half. Thereafter the door is lowered, whereby the weight of the dooris transferred to the supporting ,wheels. When the door has been closed,the supporting wheels will have adopted a position so that the portionof the supporting wheels from which the segment has been cut out, facesthe floor and the heavier half of the supporting wheel causes the wheelto adopt the position of engagement with respect to the floor,permitting at the same time the door to rest directly on the floor.

When opening the door, the supporting wheels will at the same time causeit to be raised from the floor.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 3-5 some modifications have been madefrom that shown in Figures 1 and 2, partly with a View to prevent thesupporting wheels from getting out of their correct relative positions,partly to prevent the door from striking heavily against. the floor inclosed position and partly to permit oiling without dismounting thefitting.

As in th first embodiment the supporting device consists of two wheelsII and I2, which are circular over the greater part of the periphery,but from which a segment has been cut out along a chord in order thatthe door shall be lowered onto the floor in closed position and beraised therefrom when opened.

Each wheel has a boss l3 journalled on a pivot 54, which is riveted to abar iii of band iron or the like attached to the door 2|, for example byscrews. A resilient wire [6 placed in a groove in the pivot It keeps theboss l3 in position. The extremity of the pivot l4 far from the bar 15extends through a hole in the door panel ll, whereby the device isaccessible for oiling through an internal passage l8 in the pivot l4without having to be dismounted.

On the side facing the bar l5, each boss I3 is formed with a gear l9.These gears engage teeth on a rack 20, which is L-shaped in crosssection and has a sliding longitudinal guidance on the bar l5 under afitting 22, which may be attached to the bar l5 centrally between thewheels where the rack may be formed without teeth. The rack 20 ensuresthat the wheels it and I 2 will constantly conserve the same relativeangular positions, which affords increased guarantee for satisfactoryoperation of the device even if the door is subjected to accidentalshocks or other rough handling. The radius of the gear [9 bein severaltimes smaller than the radius of the wheels H and I2, the distance therack moves will be quite short, so that it may easily be accommodatedwithin the door.

In order to smooth the downward movement of the door towards the floorduring the tilting movement of the wheels at the end of the closingmovement, an abutment 23 is provided which is influenced by a helicalspring 24 and together with the latter is placed in a spring box 25attached to the bar I and against which a projection 26 on the extremityof the rack 20 strikes when the door is closed. Since the tension of thespring 24 increases according as' the projection 26 presses the abutment23 inwardly, the progressively increasing action of gravity when thedoor sinks onto the floor is counteracted. And besides, as in closedposition the spring constantly tends to turn the wheels backwardly, itfacilitates the start of the opening movement against the action ofgravity and at the same time causes the two wheels to catchthe floormore securely, since in closed position they are constantly pressedresiliently against the fioor at the rear end of their rectilinearbottom surface, even if due to inaccuracies the distance of the axisfrom this surface measured normally to the latter should be slightlysmaller than the distance of the axis from the bottom edge of the door,respectively from the floor.

In this embodiment the wheels are designed for rotating about 330 duringrolling instead of 270 as shown in the first embodiment, whereby thewheels may be made: somewhat smaller and placed at a greater distancefrom each other.

We claim:

1. In a device for mounting a body for sliding movement relative tosupporting means, the combination of a member adapted to be journaled inthe body for rotation about a horizontal axis for travel on thesupporting means, said member having an arcuate peripheral surfaceconcentric with said axis, and a plane peripheral surface connecting theends of said arcuate surface and comprising a pair of unbalanced massesdisposed toward opposite ends of a diameter of said member parallel withsaid plane srn'face; and means for journaling said member in the body.

2. In a device for mounting a body for sliding movement relative tosupporting means, the combination of a member adapted to be journaled inthe body for rotation about a horizontal axis for travel on thesupporting means, said member having an arcuate peripheral surfaceconcentric with said axis, and a plane peripheral surface connecting theends of said arcuate surface, said member being loaded in its half onone side of the diameter of said member normal to said plane surface,and means for journaling said member in thebody.

3. In combination with an opening and a closure therefor, a supportingdevice for the closure consisting of at least one wheel journaled in theclosure and having a curved peripheral surface and a flat peripheralsurface, the length of the curved surface being sufiicient to slide theclosure into position to close the opening and rest upon its flatsurface.

4. In a device for supporting a sliding door for closing and opening adoor-way, the combination of at least one wheel having a peripheryconfigured as a mutilated circle from which a segment has been removed,the length of said periphery being greater than the width of thedoor-Way; and means for rotatably mounting said wheel in the door.

5. A device, according to claim 4, in which which said wheel comprises apair of portions of considerably unequal weight, said portions beingdisposed on opposite sides of a dividing line normal to the chord of thesaid segment.

6. In a device for supporting a sliding door for closing and opening adoor-way, the combination of a plurality of wheels, each having aperiphery configured as a mutilated circle from which a segment has beenremoved, the length of said periphery being greater than the width ofthe door-way; and means for rotatably mountme said wheels in the door.

7. In a device for supporting a sliding door for closing and opening adoor-way, the combination of' a plurality of Wheels, each having aperiphery configured as a mutilated circle from which a segment has beenremoved, the length of said periphery being greater than the width ofthe dool way; means for rotatably mounting said wheels in the door; andmeans for interconnecting said wheels to preserve a constant relativeangular position thereof.

8. In a device for supporting a sliding door for closing and opening adoor-way, the combination of a plurality of wheels, each having aperiphery configured as a mutilated circle from which a segment has beenremoved, the length of said periphery being greater than the width ofthe door-way; means for rotatably mounting said wheels in the door; arack slidably mounted on said mounting means; and a gear on each of saidwheel's, said gears engaging said rack.

9. In a device for supporting a Sliding door for closing and opening adoor-way, the combination of a plurality of wheels, each having aperiphery configured as a mutilated circle from which a segment has beenremoved, the length of said periphery being greater than the width ofthe door-way; means for rotatably mounting said wheels in the door; arack slidably mounted on said mounting means; a gear on each of saidwheels, said gears engaging said rack; and a resilient abutment mountedon said mounting means for co-action with said rack to limit the closingmovement of the door and tend to rotate said wheels to slide the doorfrom its c1osing position.

10. A device, according to claim 4, in which said mounting meansdisposes the axis of said wheel at a distance from the bottom edge ofthe door less than the radius of the wheel and not less than thedistance of the axis from the chord of said segment, and also disposessaid axis at a distance from either end of the door greater than theradius of said wheel.

JCRGEN NILSEN DOKKEN. AMUND RAGNVALD WIGELAND. CARL ALBERT ANDERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 509,305 Foreman et al. Nov. 21,1893 2,403,812 MacCallum July 9, 1946

